Jon Gruden talks coaching College Football and why it wouldn’t work for him

In an exclusive interview with the Pewter Report, Jon Gruden discussed his burning desire to get back into coaching. Unfortunately for that segment of Tennessee fans that are convinced he will once lead the Volunteers back to glory, he doesn’t sound real interested in taking a college job.

I was very determined to be a college coach. Then I realized that if I became a college coach I would probably have you on probation within four or five weeks.

Gruden is referencing how much the NCAA restricts the amount of time that you can practice.

“Too many rules, man. I mean I like to work. I don’t like to be working 15 hours a week with players. The recruiting, Facebook, texting, e-mails – all that stuff. Yeah, I’d probably have you in real deep, deep trouble if I was your college coach.”

Gruden told the Pewter Report that he visited with Alabama and Nick Saban along with Chip Kelly and Oregon after he was fired. It sounds like at least at one time, Gruden was seriously considering pursuing a college football job. That’s news to me, because I never really bought into that.

He was fired on January 16th, 2009. Gruden supposedly made these visits shortly after, which would have lined up with the timing of Lane Kiffin at Tennessee. Kiffin of course left just one year later for the USC gig. Tennessee hired Derek Dooley, but the timing would have been perfect for Gruden to take a look at the Tennessee gig if he wanted it.

And who knows how that would have turned out. The college coaching scene isn’t for everyone. Recruiting isn’t for everyone. It sure sounds like it wasn’t for Jon Gruden. I can’t imagine him on the trail — he just seems like more of a tapehead type.

So it may finally be time to bury the grumor-mill forever. It was a fun ride.